Algeria: the regime boosts its production to soothe public opinion

Algeria's president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, revealed a large discrepancy in the data circulating on agricultural production in the North African country, which perpetuates the extent of the fraud practised from within the regime and the use of inflated figures to satisfy the higher authorities and thus falsify the figures. This crossroads is yet another one of those affecting the credibility of the current Algerian government, which once again raises the problem of international reputation and, above all, that of the ordinary citizen. The lack of transparency and control of institutions is the result of a series of actions carried out by Algiers in order to keep public opinion happy and thus perpetuate itself in power.

Government institutions in Algeria exaggerate numbers related to the growth of economic sectors and exaggerate the marketing of positive indicators. The Algerian president renewed his criticism of institutions active in the agricultural sector, revealing more paradoxes. While there was talk of 29 million head of livestock and 3 million hectares of agricultural land, it later became clear that there are in fact only 19 million head and only 1.5 million hectares of agricultural land, raising questions about the integrity of the data and figures circulating in various official reports.

Tebboune himself reportedly revealed last 2021 that the returns from the agriculture sector were estimated at $25 billion, a figure higher than that of hydrocarbons at the time, but during the sector's ordinary sessions in the capital, Algiers, he revealed that agriculture's contribution to Gross Domestic Product is estimated at less than 15%. President Tebboune's intervention raised the issue of planning control, numbers and data, and official institutions always announce positive indicators and false numbers to satisfy the country's political authority.

Several smokescreens have been launched by the central administration as a communication tool to divert attention from the country's economic problems. The most notable is to implicitly hold the governments of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika responsible for the erroneous data, as huge budgets were allocated over the last two decades to support the sector. Considering that Algeria last year had one of the worst democratic indices in the world, in the same figures as Pakistan, it is hard to believe the pretexts suggested by Tebboune at the regular meetings. According to him, agricultural actors have managed 29 million head of livestock, while data shown by independent bodies put the number at 19. 

Beyond the discrepancy in the figures for livestock or other market sectors in the North African country, contradictory statements are the breeding ground among Algerians. The mistrust generated is rooted in the public's awareness that the figures are being used for political purposes to burnish the regime's image. The Algerian president hoped that his country would achieve self-sufficiency in agricultural products by 2025, a figure that can also be included in the context of the data crisis and the content of the reports he receives, as realistic indicators point to the exact opposite, especially with the country's population growth rate, where the population is 40 million, with another six million living in the diaspora.

An official report revealed that "President Tebboune is in the process of defining the parameters of the agricultural strategy in light of current international conditions", referring to the food crisis challenging the world as a result of climate change and the war in Ukraine. Taking cover from the rest of the world, the Algiers regime in the report makes clear that: "No country in the world has achieved total self-sufficiency". The Algerian street is anxiously awaiting what President Tebboune's reaction, which he described as "anger" at the government's actions in many sectors, will translate into.